Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

au1994

stickguy said:

tjc78 said:

@qbrozen said:

Yeah yeah yeah. Having all these cars is dumb. I know. But I love cars. What else can I say? Some folks have more clothes than they can wear in a year. Some have a collection of expensive watches and never go out anywhere. Pick your poison.

I think I gotta at least try to wait for the sprinter and volvo and see how the driveway looks. Haha.

But there is something behind it all. I keep thinking “can I make money on this?”

I’m with you! It’s killing me not to have a replacement lined up. I’m sure if this was 2019 and there were a bunch of attractive leases it would be a different story.

Wife says I won’t make it until Christmas! We will see.

I sold my TLX in September. Also predicted I wouldn’t make it until Christmas. Ended up making it until Christmas a year later! 15 months surprised me.

This market will keep a man honest!

stickguy

I’m also glad I did get something. Would not want to be forced into the market on an emergency basis. And having one car puts you an unfortunate accident away from that.

Sandman6472

TJC78, does your mom live with y'all or is she super close? Think if my kid was still living here with us, I'd probably have no need for my vehicle as I don't drive more than 3K/year now. And our office is so close to the house, could probably get a co-worker to drop me off. But just not sure I could live with not having my own vehicle, at least right now. Am sure one day, I won't be physically able to drive anymore but, will deal with that if & when it happens.
On another note, got to see a new Corolla Cross yesterday on the way home. It was a dark blue LE model and liked the color. Think that dark blue over a gray would look really nice. Size wise, think it'll work here at the house so we'll just have to wait & see. Still love the white pearlized paint and think that'll be the color I choose. No giving up things this time around, decided I've got to have the JBL audio and the roof. Think there's only one kind of alloy but if they do have the Limited alloy as a choice, I'd go with that also. Just want what I want this time and willing to wait.

Sandman6472

Drove a 2021 Jetta yesterday and it had zero turbo lag at all, figuring it had the 1.4 turbo engine. And the brake pedal wasn't as low as mine is so definitely think mine has an issue. Think I had an "SE" model also and for having over 25K on the clock, it drove pretty nicely. Just needed a good detail as it was a mess inside. For some reason, many folks seem to trash our fleet which is a shame...luckily we have some great detail guys who work wonders.
Dropping the off off Monday morning to have the brakes checked. Since I'm keeping it for awhile, might as well address this issue as I feel a bit unsafe at times.

nyccarguy

A customer’s RHD 1992 JDM Civic SiR

henryn

28firefighter said:

I’ve had to shuttle the bmw and Infiniti around over the last couple weeks to mechanics to get things done. My wife has basically said she’s done with driving me to shops and to Uber/Lyft to drop off and pick up instead.

Without fail, I’m left motion sick every time. And I’m not someone who gets easily motion sick.

My Uber rides, maybe 5 or 6 over the last year, have all been good. Now I will say that some back seats are more comfortable than others, but all in all, satisfactory.

Speaking of back seats -- is an Uber ride the only time you ever ride in the back seat? I have known people who could not ride in the back seat without suffering minor motion sickness.

roadburner

The Tanzanite Blue M4 I’ve been following has now been on the lot for 49 days, and the price has dropped by $9k. Crazy.

au1994

henryn said:

28firefighter said:

I’ve had to shuttle the bmw and Infiniti around over the last couple weeks to mechanics to get things done. My wife has basically said she’s done with driving me to shops and to Uber/Lyft to drop off and pick up instead.

Without fail, I’m left motion sick every time. And I’m not someone who gets easily motion sick.

My Uber rides, maybe 5 or 6 over the last year, have all been good. Now I will say that some back seats are more comfortable than others, but all in all, satisfactory.

Speaking of back seats -- is an Uber ride the only time you ever ride in the back seat? I have known people who could not ride in the back seat without suffering minor motion sickness.

I’ll be glad when they allow people in the front seat again. I ordered one for 4 am when we went skiing and despite requesting Uber XL, we got a guy in a Camry. That was a long ride to the airport with 3 of us in the backseat. Not to mention trying to cram all that luggage in a Camry. Ski clothes are bulky! The bag that rode in the front seat with the driver was much more comfortable than any of the 3 of us.

mjfloyd1

@roadburner said:
The Tanzanite Blue M4 I’ve been following has now been on the lot for 49 days, and the price has dropped by $9k. Crazy.

What is the current price?

28firefighter

@henryn said:
My Uber rides, maybe 5 or 6 over the last year, have all been good. Now I will say that some back seats are more comfortable than others, but all in all, satisfactory.

Speaking of back seats -- is an Uber ride the only time you ever ride in the back seat? I have known people who could not ride in the back seat without suffering minor motion sickness.

Actually…yes, now that I think about. I normally ride upfront.

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

Yeah yeah yeah. Having all these cars is dumb. I know. But I love cars. What else can I say? Some folks have more clothes than they can wear in a year. Some have a collection of expensive watches and never go out anywhere. Pick your poison.

I think I gotta at least try to wait for the sprinter and volvo and see how the driveway looks. Haha.

But there is something behind it all. I keep thinking “can I make money on this?”

And then there’s me, a guy who hasn’t counted all his money yet. I’m getting so bored doing that I should just get a driveway full of cars or buy another house to flip.

jmonroe

roadburner

mjfloyd1 said:

@roadburner said:

The Tanzanite Blue M4 I’ve been following has now been on the lot for 49 days, and the price has dropped by $9k. Crazy.

What is the current price?

$64k.

nyccarguy

Filled up the Jeep on my way home from work. Hand calculated 29.77 mpg including charging up every night.

tjc78

@Sandman6472 said:
TJC78, does your mom live with y'all or is she super close? Think if my kid was still living here with us, I'd probably have no need for my vehicle as I don't drive more than 3K/year now. And our office is so close to the house, could probably get a co-worker to drop me off. But just not sure I could live with not having my own vehicle, at least right now. Am sure one day, I won't be physically able to drive anymore but, will deal with that if & when it happens.
On another note, got to see a new Corolla Cross yesterday on the way home. It was a dark blue LE model and liked the color. Think that dark blue over a gray would look really nice. Size wise, think it'll work here at the house so we'll just have to wait & see. Still love the white pearlized paint and think that'll be the color I choose. No giving up things this time around, decided I've got to have the JBL audio and the roof. Think there's only one kind of alloy but if they do have the Limited alloy as a choice, I'd go with that also. Just want what I want this time and willing to wait.

Yes we moved her in about 4 years ago.

fintail

28firefighter said:

I’ve had to shuttle the bmw and Infiniti around over the last couple weeks to mechanics to get things done. My wife has basically said she’s done with driving me to shops and to Uber/Lyft to drop off and pick up instead.

Without fail, I’m left motion sick every time. And I’m not someone who gets easily motion sick.

The constant possibly subconscious brake tapping exhibited by many drivers probably does some of that.

oldfarmer50

28firefighter said:

Question. Is it a requirement to be an Uber or Lyft driver that you drive your Prius in such a way that you make even the strongest stomachs motion sick?

You sound like one of those strange customers that my Lyft driving son occasionally tells me about. Have you ever invited your driver to go drinking with you or wept during the ride as you trashed your significant other?

nyccarguy

https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/d/manchester-2006-acura-rsx-type/7466446470.html

Saw this sweet looking RSX Type S - looks like an ideal C&B candidate.

28firefighter

@oldfarmer50 said:
You sound like one of those strange customers that my Lyft driving son occasionally tells me about. Have you ever invited your driver to go drinking with you or wept during the ride as you trashed your significant other?

I think your son needs to write a book.

Given the fact they’re driving me to or from a mechanic, I won’t confirm or deny whether there was weeping.

pensfan83

@nyccarguy said:
https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/d/manchester-2006-acura-rsx-type/7466446470.html

Saw this sweet looking RSX Type S - looks like an ideal C&B candidate.

I'll take all the all old Hondas and Acuras.

oldfarmer50

nyccarguy said:

https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/d/manchester-2006-acura-rsx-type/7466446470.html

Saw this sweet looking RSX Type S - looks like an ideal C&B candidate.

If as advertised that looks sweet for a northeasterly car.

mjfloyd1

@roadburner said:
The Tanzanite Blue M4 I’ve been following has now been on the lot for 49 days, and the price has dropped by $9k. Crazy.

What is the current price?> @roadburner said:

$64k.

Original asking price on the carfax was $66k ($65,987)

Here is current carfax. The “carfax value” has dropped quite a bit as well as the “savings”

nyccarguy

There have been a few comps on Cars & Bids for 2006 RSX Type S:

102K Miles Sold for $10.3
90K Miles Extensively Modified Sold for $15.7
61K Miles sold for $17K

tifighter

Can I assume this is the M4 in question for @roadburner ?

Was there something going on with it?

xwesx

28firefighter said:

Given the fact they’re driving me to or from a mechanic, I won’t confirm or deny whether there was weeping.

Quote of the week, for sure!

andres3

oldfarmer50 said:

nyccarguy said:

https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/d/manchester-2006-acura-rsx-type/7466446470.html

Saw this sweet looking RSX Type S - looks like an ideal C&B candidate.

If as advertised that looks sweet for a northeasterly car.

I've yet to see a CL ad that says "driven aggressively." Every single time it seems to all be easy going highway miles by a "mature" driver.
Can someone show me the opposite?

mjfloyd1

@tifighter said:
Can I assume this is the M4 in question for @roadburner ?

Was there something going on with it?

That’s the one. RB has been following it. It is RB spec other than DCT transmission- otherwise I still think it would be in his garage.

andres3

mjfloyd1 said:

@tifighter said:

Can I assume this is the M4 in question for @roadburner ?


Was there something going on with it?

That’s the one. RB has been following it. It is RB spec other than DCT transmission- otherwise I still think it would be in his garage.

How many miles? How roomy is the M4 compared to the M2?

mjfloyd1

12K miles.

I suspect a bit roomier than 2 series/ M2. The current 3 series is about as big as earlier 5 series

https://www.bmwblog.com/2018/04/20/should-you-buy-the-bmw-m2-competition-or-bmw-m4/

Sandman6472

Drove a bare bones Chevy Silverado from Okeechobee City to West Palm yesterday afternoon. No power seats so a bit difficult to get comfortable but it had Apple CarPlay so hooked up my iPhone & all was right with the world. Worked with my original boss from when I first started so was a nice change of pace. Since he works the weekends, reminded him that I'm always up for another day if he needs a warm body and he was receptive to the idea after all, he was the one to call me back in early 2020 and asked me to start working on Sundays.
Dropping off the Golf Sunday evening at my mechanics so he can get an early start on Monday. Luckily they have a drop box where I can leave my spare set of keys. Hoping he will be able to work his magic and raise the pedal a bit. Having disc brakes at all four corners means I can't go in reverse while using the pull up emergency brake to tighten them. Used to do that in my vehicle that had drums in the rear & usually did the trick. We'll see happens. Almost time for an oil change, June 10th will be a year, but since I haven't even driven 2500 miles, might just wait awhile longer though it is cheap insurance to just have it done while he has it there. Will talk with him Monday morning and get his opinion on this. Just looked at my schedule and yep, just over 3K miles since the last change. Since I do mostly short trips now, would consider that style more severe as the car never has enough time to really warm up, most trips now are between 5 to 15 minutes actually. Will let him look at the oil & let him tell me his thoughts. Cheap insurance really as it's staying in the garage for the time being, so really need to take care of it.

henryn

Sandman6472 said:

Drove a bare bones Chevy Silverado from Okeechobee City to West Palm yesterday afternoon. No power seats so a bit difficult to get comfortable but it had Apple CarPlay so hooked up my iPhone & all was right with the world. Worked with my original boss from when I first started so was a nice change of pace. Since he works the weekends, reminded him that I'm always up for another day if he needs a warm body and he was receptive to the idea after all, he was the one to call me back in early 2020 and asked me to start working on Sundays.
Dropping off the Golf Sunday evening at my mechanics so he can get an early start on Monday. Luckily they have a drop box where I can leave my spare set of keys. Hoping he will be able to work his magic and raise the pedal a bit. Having disc brakes at all four corners means I can't go in reverse while using the pull up emergency brake to tighten them. Used to do that in my vehicle that had drums in the rear & usually did the trick. We'll see happens. Almost time for an oil change, June 10th will be a year, but since I haven't even driven 2500 miles, might just wait awhile longer though it is cheap insurance to just have it done while he has it there. Will talk with him Monday morning and get his opinion on this. Just looked at my schedule and yep, just over 3K miles since the last change. Since I do mostly short trips now, would consider that style more severe as the car never has enough time to really warm up, most trips now are between 5 to 15 minutes actually. Will let him look at the oil & let him tell me his thoughts. Cheap insurance really as it's staying in the garage for the time being, so really need to take care of it.

My F150 will have a full year on the oil change at the end of May. I checked the "oil life indicator" yesterday and it says 15%. The miles are about 3k, same as you, but a lot of short trips, and those are a little hard on the oil life. I try to get it out on the highway at least once a month and blow the soot out of it. I will probably go ahead and change the oil next week.

corvette

The Ford OLM caps the oil changes at 12 months. The one in my Mustang would drop about 2% per week even if it wasn’t driven.

stickguy

any of my cares with the maintenance monitor system have stated max of 1 year regardless of miles or what the % on the counter says. I used to have the old RDX hit 12 months before the light went on most years since we did not put many miles on it.

Sandy, nothing but short drives is worse for oil because it rarely gets heated up enough to burn out any contaminates. and as others noted, cheap insurance. probably not a big deal if you wait until June though if you feel like going back again.

might be time for new pads though. Generally the pedal drops as the pads wear, because the fluid level drops. I had that once (forget which car) after a fluid change. I think they did not fill it all the way (dealer did it) and my tire shop would not top it up per policy. It is supposed to be a way to tell that brakes are worn. I had to twist their arm a bit to convince them (brakes themselves were fine otherwise). New pads and fluid topped off to the max fill line likely takes care of your issue.

oldfarmer50

corvette said:

The Ford OLM caps the oil changes at 12 months. The one in my Mustang would drop about 2% per week even if it wasn’t driven.

Same with mine regardless of milage. I do full synthetic with a planned change every 5000 miles but these days I drive it 2000 miles a year at most so I was thinking I could wait two years.

Sandman6472

Since he'll have it sitting there, might as well have them do the change as it just saves me doing it at a later date. Changing the pads might just be the ticket here also since new fluid was put in not that long ago. Being he knows my preference here for a higher pedal, might as well try just to keep me happy as looking like the Golf will stay at least for another year I'm thinking. Not in any hurry to be honest to do anything as I'm no longer going to settle for what I really don't want in life. And really do want to sit a bit higher up in my next vehicle as my spinal issues aren't getting any better.

xwesx

oldfarmer50 said:

corvette said:

The Ford OLM caps the oil changes at 12 months. The one in my Mustang would drop about 2% per week even if it wasn’t driven.

Same with mine regardless of mileage. I do full synthetic with a planned change every 5000 miles but these days I drive it 2000 miles a year at most so I was thinking I could wait two years.

Yeah, I do mine annually, without much regard to mileage, for the drivers. For the others, which rarely get used, I change them every other year. The only exceptions is when I take a long trip, such as the one I did last fall with the Q7: I changed the oil on that one after I arrived home, but I will change it again on the normal schedule come Auto Maintenance Weekend.

henryn

@Sandman6472, I'm in agreement about the low brake pedal. I will do whatever it takes to fix it, I do not like a low brake pedal. Just feels unsafe to me.

qbrozen

More fun with an Italian:

Wife complained the Fiat trunk wouldn’t open again. Happened once before when my son did some sequence of convertible opening and trunk opening that upset the car. Eventually read that the top needs to be reset, much like how you reset the auto-up feature on a window, and that allows the trunk to unlock again. (FYI, trunk will not open with top down to prevent people from breaking the rear window.)

Went immediately to the reset procedure. After trying that probably a half dozen times, I decided that there had to be something else. I disconnected the battery and left the car alone for about an hour while I did other stuff. Reconnected and tried the reset again, with no luck. Time to take a look at the electrics. Went through the backseat and pulled the emergency release. I removed the handle and tested the button. It worked fine. Reinstalled the handle and went to check the motor, but the button then worked. Thought maybe I had just cleaned the connections while testing and all was good. Closed the trunk and it would not open again. Release it again, played with it while open and it worked. Closed, no work. Alright, this has to be a bad wire issue. Pulled the wiring apart from handle to under the roof, cut it out and spliced in replacements. Now it works. Took most of my afternoon, though.

laurasdada

For those interested in following the PHEV bouncing ball, even though the Lusitania was reading 5/8 of a tank of primordial ooze, as I took a short road trip back to the old 'hood, I decided to visit the true happiest place on earth: Costco, $4.35/PUG.
I drove 608 miles since the last visit to a Sinclair station, averaged 102mpg with 80% of the power supplied by the results of Mr. Franklin's kite discovery. After, I stopped at a municipal lot a mile down the road, to visit my favorite bakery, where there are two Chargepoint stations, formerly gratis. Now $.25/kWh; thank you very little town of Dedham.
If I knew I was going to have to pay for car shock therapy, perhaps I wouldn't have gone that route! Can you imagine the nerve?

corvette

I’d gladly pay the charge fee to support the infrastructure… all of them I’ve seen are far cheaper than paying for gas or diesel.

corvette

Arrived in Phoenix today. The line at the Budget / Avis and Enterprise counters was insanely long. Hertz was much shorter but only two employees working. Downloaded the app and was able to get signed in and upload my dox before it was my turn. I should have figured that out beforehand, but this is my first time renting in over a year.

The Gold aisle looked very sparse. I’m pretty sure there was a Trax in the lineup. I was eyeing a Cherokee since I had one of those before and liked it. There was also a previous generation Sienna, which would have been far more comfortable and refined than a lot of the other choices. Lucked out and saw an Edge further down the line. It’s a 2020 with the Ecoboost and AWD, so the same power train as the Maverick I have on order. Drove it about 10 miles to the hotel and, so far, so good, although I’m finding the lane keeping assist a little overbearing.

Michaell

Had a long conversation with my sister today. My BIL's Q50 lease ends in 11 months, and they are starting to think about their next vehicle.

She's thinking she wants either a PHEV or an EV (shocker!) - they filled up the Infiniti last night at Costco and it cost $94 to fill the tank.

My sister is leaning towards a luxury PHEV SUV, and the short list includes:

1. Volvo V60 Recharge
2. Lexus NX450+
3. Audi Q5e

I'll go on record and predict she'll end up with the Lexus - she had a used RX400h for a number of years, and really liked it. Audi is the dark horse, while the Volvo - in addition to being a wagon - doesn't exude the 'luxury' feel she really wants.

I did tell her that she should begin looking for cars to test drive now, as I suspect it will be 6 months before a vehicle comes available.

The Q50 has 28,000 miles and might have some equity in it, which would help. Don't know if she's planning to buy or lease this one.

kyfdx

@corvette

My S-I-L and her husband both have a late model Edge. They like them a lot.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

More fun with an Italian:

Wife complained the Fiat trunk wouldn’t open again. Happened once before when my son did some sequence of convertible opening and trunk opening that upset the car. Eventually read that the top needs to be reset, much like how you reset the auto-up feature on a window, and that allows the trunk to unlock again. (FYI, trunk will not open with top down to prevent people from breaking the rear window.)

Went immediately to the reset procedure. After trying that probably a half dozen times, I decided that there had to be something else. I disconnected the battery and left the car alone for about an hour while I did other stuff. Reconnected and tried the reset again, with no luck. Time to take a look at the electrics. Went through the backseat and pulled the emergency release. I removed the handle and tested the button. It worked fine. Reinstalled the handle and went to check the motor, but the button then worked. Thought maybe I had just cleaned the connections while testing and all was good. Closed the trunk and it would not open again. Release it again, played with it while open and it worked. Closed, no work. Alright, this has to be a bad wire issue. Pulled the wiring apart from handle to under the roof, cut it out and spliced in replacements. Now it works. Took most of my afternoon, though.

My old PT Cruiser had an electric trunk latch that was a known failure point. Sometimes it would work, sometimes you had to bounce around in the potholes before it would open. $300 just for the part. I learned to live with it because I was too busy fixing all the other things that broke.

No wonder Chrysler sold to Fiat.

qbrozen

@oldfarmer50 said:
My old PT Cruiser had an electric trunk latch that was a known failure point. Sometimes it would work, sometimes you had to bounce around in the potholes before it would open. $300 just for the part. I learned to live with it because I was too busy fixing all the other things that broke.

No wonder Chrysler sold to Fiat.

Sounds like the same setup. What led me to look to the handle in the first place was a post online from someone who was smart enough to rebuild his (which amounted to a hidden resistor at the end of one wire) rather than spend the $300.

sda

I received this from VW dealer where I've purchased multiple cars and frequent their service dept. This is tempting but what could I buy to replace the Passat? The Passat certainly isn't my dream car but is good solid transportation. I doesn't hurt it is under CPO warranty until 8/25/84k. It currently has 26k. I didn't copy the entire email.

Dear Steve,

I hope this email finds you well. Please see below for an important message regarding your current vehicle from our Managing Owner, Mark Cohen. Mr. Cohen is very interested in purchasing your vehicle. Because of the current inventory shortage, pre-owned vehicle values have never been higher so we're willing to pay up to $4,000 OVER the current KBB trade-in value. We have identified YOUR vehicle as one that is in high demand so we really want it.

kyfdx

@sda My 2018 GTI is under full warranty until February 2024. I'll have had it four years by then, and at the current rate, it will have around 35K miles.

There is absolutely no way I will part with it, before then. I might buy something else to play with, but it is so well suited to me, I have no reason to get rid of it.

stickguy

of all the Breld rejects that have come and gone, yours is the one I really would have wanted. The white 2 series manual being 2nd. Your GTI though is perfect color and spec.

Sandman6472

Kyfdx, right now, with everything working, I'm enjoying the Golf & am in no hurry to swap it out yet. Am quite happy to keep it another year if necessary & get me either a 2023 model or even a 2024 if need be. Think by then, this chip shortage should be done with & will be more ready to do the deal then. It's going in for a low brake pedal & possible oil/filter change tomorrow. Sure it'll come back with a clean bill of health.
We took delivery of some new 2022 Ford vehicles lat week, Escapes & Edges and loved the new Edge. They drive nicely with plenty of power and the new dash is ergonomically easy to use. Even though it's just too darn big for me, liked it better than the Escape, more of the size I'm looking for. Just wish Toyota would do something with the interior of their Corolla line-up...very dull & boring & just needs a total redo to bring it into the 21st century. Big reason I'm not in such a hurry to get a new one is am hoping the folks at Toyota will finally decide to revamp the whole Corolla line. Compared to the Honda Civic, it's just super boring & needs some fun added. I get that why mess with what ain't broke but, Toyota, your interiors need a kick in the butt to make them more modern and do think overall, their customer base will like it. Honda really nailed it with the new 2022 Civic in every way & think Toyota is missing a big opportunity here by just doing nothing!

qbrozen

@sda said:
I received this from VW dealer where I've purchased multiple cars and frequent their service dept. This is tempting but what could I buy to replace the Passat? The Passat certainly isn't my dream car but is good solid transportation. I doesn't hurt it is under CPO warranty until 8/25/84k. It currently has 26k. I didn't copy the entire email.

Dear Steve,

I hope this email finds you well. Please see below for an important message regarding your current vehicle from our Managing Owner, Mark Cohen. Mr. Cohen is very interested in purchasing your vehicle. Because of the current inventory shortage, pre-owned vehicle values have never been higher so we're willing to pay up to $4,000 OVER the current KBB trade-in value. We have identified YOUR vehicle as one that is in high demand so we really want it.

Ignore him. I will pay you UP TO $1Million for your car!! When can you come in?

breld

@stickguy said:
of all the Breld rejects that have come and gone, yours is the one I really would have wanted. The white 2 series manual being 2nd. Your GTI though is perfect color and spec.

Of all of my rejects, I wish I would have kept that 2-series. Great balance of performance and comfort at a steal of a price. And a bit of that old school BMW feel. That I miss.